The Cheap Way Out in Life
by Aquarius Galuxy
Summary: They're newly married, and already, she's on the threshold of change. [NejiTen] 3 parts.
1. Part 1

_Born from thinking about state taxes and federal taxes and ways to get around them. lol. I'm the sort of person who tries to find loopholes in things as a form of mental exercise. :P_

_Naruto and its characters do not belong to me._

* * *

**The Cheap Way Out in Life**

**Part 1**

**i.**

"This can't be a good idea," Ino says for the hundredth time as they stand in line at the county registrar's office. "Getting married just to save some money?"

The walls are painted white, decorated with some plastic flowers, some plaques, and some announcements. To a side, there are double wooden doors, that open into a small room, complete with a mahogany pedestal, an iron-wrought gazebo, and a few garden benches for guests invited to attend a ceremony.

"It's a lot of money, Ino," Tenten whispers next to her, even as other couples in line look over at them disapprovingly, eyebrows drawn low on their foreheads. "I've done the math already - it's worth it."

"I'm not saying that Lee's going to be a bad husband or anything," Ino whispers back, sliding a look at the bushy-browed man standing next to them, who is dressed in an impossibly-green shirt that burns her eyes. "But this isn't what marriage is supposed to be about!"

"I'll protect Tenten with whatever it takes!" Lee interjects, clearly listening in. "It'll be just like before, Ino. Tenten and I are still best friends."

"I know you don't have bad intentions, Lee," Ino sighs. "But surely there's some other way out of this that doesn't put you both in a binding commitment for the rest of your lives!"

"I've taken that into account, too," Tenten informs her long-time friend. "An uncontested divorce is cheaper than having to pay singles' taxes for both of us. Look at it this way - Lee and I have been single for, what, five years? With our income disparity, getting married would actually help move me into a lower tax bracket.

"Ten percent of forty thousand is four grand. Yearly," Tenten continues. "In comparison, an uncontested divorce would be three grand or so. Supposing neither Lee nor I gets married in the first year or so, we'd be breaking even after that."

Ino turns to Lee incredulously. "You're agreeing with this?"

He blinks his large, inky eyes at her, and nods. "It sounds like a good idea to me. Tenten and I are living in the same place already - this will help save more money."

The blond looks between her two friends and shakes her head exasperatedly. "Fine. I'll be your witness. But this isn't going to work out, trust me."

"Oh come on, Ino, what happened to your optimism?" Tenten grins, bumping her shoulder against the other woman's.

"What if you fall in love with someone next year? Next month? Next week?" Ino frowns. "What're you going to tell them then? _'I'm single and available'_?"

Tenten purses her lips. "Well, we'd be in an open marriage that is subject to divorce, but only if either of us proposes to, or is proposed to, by another person. Besides, it's only a marriage on paper."

"Yeah," Lee agrees. "We don't even have a ring and stuff. We'll save that for the youthful other-halves we'll meet in the future!"

Tenten nods in agreement. "Yup."

Ino sighs, and cringes at the rest of the happily-engaged couples in the registrar's office, who are still sending them dirty looks. "Well, I hope someday you'll know how important marriage is to some people."

"Maybe." Tenten shrugs, and brightens when their number flashes on the overhead LCD panels. "C'mon, Ino, Lee! It's time for our vows."

* * *

**ii.**

Being married doesn't really feel very different from being single.

It is the morning after the ceremony, and Tenten kneels in the freshly-spread dirt in a corner of her front yard, sinking her fingers into loosely-packed soil. It's her first time planting anything - Ino has said to dig little holes that are half-an-inch deep, and drop the sunflower seeds into them, before covering them up.

(_You'd want to plant them two inches apart at first,_ the blond told her, _and when they're a few inches high, weed out those that don't look as healthy._)

Tenten doesn't like the thought of wasting seeds, though, so she spaces the holes out by a few inches, and drops just a single seed into each hole.

The sound of food being prepared wafts through the open window; it's Lee's turn to make breakfast today, and Tenten grins at the thought of blueberry pancakes drizzled with chocolate syrup.

Nothing has changed about their routines. Everything is the same as before; she and Lee take turns to clean their single-story rental home, and they go jogging in the evenings, chatting about anything and everything.

They're still keeping to their own rooms, she's still yelling at his puddles of sweat on the floor, and he's still patiently listening to her rants about taxpayers' monies being splurged on stupid things like playgrounds and gardens and that spanking new government building that no one ever visits.

If anything, being married to her best friend is far from the worst thing that can happen to her, even if neither of them have romantic inclinations towards each other.

With a cheerful hum, Tenten piles dirt onto the sunflower seeds, waters them, and reaches for the bag of glass marbles to mark where she's placed each seed. (Personally, she wouldn't spend money on flowers - they aren't practical, and aren't edible for the most part. But the sunflower seeds showed up in the mail without a return address, and it sure beats going to the store in case she ever needs flowers.)

In her haste to get the seeds planted before breakfast, Tenten has forgotten to bring along a pair of scissors to open the bag of marbles. She mutters a curse. Lee should be almost done by now - she doesn't want to have to run back into the house for scissors, so she digs her fingers into the thin plastic netting, and tears at the bag.

The patter of quick footfalls distracts her momentarily; she looks up, and spots what she's sure _is_ the worst thing that can happen to her.

That annoying, pale-faced, too-smug, good-for-nothing neighbor from across the street. Why the rest of the women fawn over his regal features is beyond her. Tenten thinks those lilac eyes and that too-long, just-a-shade-lighter-than-her-own hair is the weirdest combination she's ever seen on a man.

Hyuuga Neji jogs towards her, decked in expensive running gear that fails to hide his sculpted physique. Why he's living in a tiny house in her neighborhood, Tenten doesn't know.

She doesn't care, either.

The bag of marbles rips open then, one second before he steps across the line on the sidewalk marking the boundaries of her rented place.

Tens of marbles burst from the bag, almost in slow motion, and Tenten watches in horror as they fly in all directions, a number skittering all over the concrete pavement with _tap-tap-tapping s_ounds that spell her imminent doom.

Hyuuga Neji isn't in time to avoid stepping on the gleaming marbles; she stares, open-mouthed, as he throws his arms out to steady himself, surprise transforming his oh-so-serious expression.

She snorts.

In the next moment, he's lurching to the side, towards her, and Tenten brings her arms up in front of her face to defend herself.

He lands with a hard _thump_ on her painstakingly-conditioned soil, hands pressing into the dirt to break his fall.

"What're you doing?" she yelps, scrambling backwards to put some distance between them. "This is harassment!"

He raises himself slowly off the ground, blinking, dirt marring his clean exercise suit. Tenten gulps when he focuses his stare on her. "I should be saying the same to you," he returns, in that silky baritone, "What possessed you to empty marbles in my path?"

She glowers at him (and the splotch of dirt on his smooth forehead stands right out). "The bag just burst! It wasn't my fault!"

"Then whose fault is it?" he snaps. He pushes himself into a sitting position, brushing damp soil off his hands. "I should sue you for this."

"You wouldn't-" Tenten gapes. "Suing someone because of some stupid marbles?"

He angles a haughty look at her and gets to his feet slowly, being sure to avoid the shiny, see-through spheres. "Clearly you haven't possessed enough wealth for anyone to consider taking you to court."

Hyuuga Neji flicks his lilac gaze over to the ratty third-hand cars that she and Lee have parked in the driveway (but they work fine, and are better than she could hope for) and back at her, over her dirt-smudged clothes.

"Go screw yourself," Tenten sputters, glowering at him. This is why she and Lee got married - to further cut back on their expenses. "Can't you go jog elsewhere?"

"I have every right to jog on this pavement," he informs her primly, folding his arms. She sees him glance at her sunflower seed packet, but neither of them comments on it.

"And I have every right to spill marbles wherever I damn well want," Tenten snipes.

"But you have threatened my livelihood by putting my hands at risk," he retorts.

"And what do you do for a living? Feel women up with your pretty hands?" she grumbles sourly, narrowing her eyes. "I should be sorry that you weren't more gravely injured!"

"I'm an accountant, if you must know," he answers evenly, looking down at her.

Shouldn't he be rich and living in a big house, then? Tenten raises her eyebrows in surprise. "You must really suck as an accountant, if you're living in this place," she deduces none-too-charitably.

"I'm here because I chose to." Lilac eyes narrow to slits. "Don't judge what you can't see."

Tenten fumes, glancing over at his house - well-kept, decent lawn, with a recent paint job and new windows. One of the better-maintained houses in the neighborhood, actually, unlike the place she and Lee are currently living in, that is in desperate need of some repairs. "You judged me first," she snaps.

"Did I read you wrong?" he raises an eyebrow, surveying her calculatingly.

She absolutely refuses to admit that he's right.

"I'm not obligated to tell you anything," Tenten tells him instead, glancing down the street. Is Lee listening in on this conversation? He must be - the sizzle from the kitchen has stopped, though he isn't rushing out, curiously enough. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

A frown creases his forehead then, as if he's just realized how much time he's wasting on idle chit-chat. He checks his watch, and dusts his arms off. "Either way, you owe me," he says flatly.

"I don't owe you anything," she mutters darkly, scowling. "Go away."

Hyuuga Neji turns on his heel, heading for his home across the street. "I've spent enough time here. You'll be hearing from me shortly," he says over his shoulder.

Tenten rolls her eyes and settles for picking her marbles off the pavement.

* * *

**iii.**

The unsigned letter appears in her mailbox just days later.

It is addressed to her, and Lee sends her a curious look when he hands the envelop over. "There isn't a stamp on it," he points out.

"I can see that," she answers dryly, knowing at once who it's from. With any luck, Hyuuga Neji hasn't included any kind of poison or biological threat within the paper envelop - Tenten suddenly gets the distinct feeling that she should be handling the letter with gloves, inside a sealed laboratory facility.

"It wouldn't happen to be from Neji across the street, would it?" Lee asks lightly.

She jerks her head up at him. (He had not shown any sign of listening in on that encounter that Sunday morning.) "You overheard our conversation?" Tenten goggles.

Her best friend shrugs. "Well, I thought perhaps I should interfere, but then I realized that he meant no harm," Lee explains.

Tenten frowns. "He's such a smug asshole," she informs him.

"He is confident," Lee admits, seating himself on a kitchen stool. "But surely it is a good thing to get to know our neighbors better?"

(They already know most of their neighbors along the street, like Kiba and Shino and Sakura and Sasuke.)

"Have you forgotten the way he snubbed your priorities?" Tenten bristles. "Or how he keeps looking at us like we're some poor dormice in need of donations?"

"Have you considered that maybe he's doing that because he's lonely?" Lee says suddenly, and the words Tenten has queued on her tongue disappear, at how ludicrous his idea is.

"More like he drives people away from himself," she says finally. "I've seen you trying to befriend him."

Lee's attempts to strike a conversation with Hyuuga Neji often fail - the latter shuts the door in his face, or refuses to even answer, even when the lights are on in his house and they know that he hasn't brought anyone home with him.

(Tenten refuses to acknowledge that she and Lee have spent at least a cumulative hour at the window just spying on Hyuuga Neji.)

"So maybe that means he wants to be left alone," Tenten summarizes. "And I see why we should leave him the hell alone."

Lee rubs at his chin with a finger, studying the unopened envelop. "Are you going to read it?"

Tenten winces. This isn't the right place or time (if there is even any) to see what That Man has to say to her, but she inserts a ginger fingertip past the paper flap and breaks through the spot of dried glue anyway.

The piece of paper inside is thick, heavy, white cardstock that is probably expensive. She holds her breath and pulls it out between two fingers. Where are her gloves?

_You owe me dinner. My schedule allows for this any day next week._

His handwriting is bold and precise, with wide spaces between the words, narrow loops, and some letters connecting with each other.

_Huh._ Tenten blinks, surprised at how reflective this is of his personality - he's uptight, prefers to be alone, and very logical. Some of those, she sees in herself as well.

Lee sneaks over and peeks at the card before she thinks to hide it.

"Lee!" Tenten snaps, slapping the card against her chest. Her cheeks heat.

But it's too late - he's caught the gist of it. Lee's bushy eyebrows rise on his forehead, and he gives her an amazed grin. "He's asking to hang out with you!"

She cringes and says nothing.

"It's the perfect opportunity to make friends with our neighbor!" Lee continues, eyes alight with excitement. "What do you have in mind?"

"Why don't you come along, Lee, I'm sure he'll appreciate your presence as well," Tenten grouses, stuffing the card back into its envelop. Hyuuga Neji did not leave a contact number or an email address, but she knows exactly where he lives, anyway.

Lee waves his hands in front of himself then. "I can't, he didn't invite me-" Tenten gives him a sour look, and he grins. "Besides, I think the two of you have the chemistry that Mr Gai is always talking about!"

She stares at him like he's grown a third eye. "Chemistry? Me and... that guy?" she sputters. "I don't even know him."

"You know him well enough," Lee informs her sagely. "Are you going to take him out for dinner?"

Tenten grimaces. Her, with loans to pay off and not enough money for herself, treat Mr High-and-Mighty to a meal? "He'll probably look down at whatever I can afford," Tenten answers.

"There is always home-cooked food," Lee suggests, glancing over at the stove. "Made with love!"

She rolls her eyes, but notes that he does have a point. Cooking at home sure stretches the funds she has.

"I'll arrange to meet Mr Gai for dinner on whichever day it is," Lee tells her excitedly, and Tenten couldn't dread it more. "I'm sure it'll be fun!"

* * *

**iv.**

So begins the (romantic?) dinner from Hell.

Hyuuga Neji shows up at the front door at exactly seven o'clock, and Tenten lets him in grudgingly. It's the first time he's ever stepped into the rental house. She sees the way he sweeps his analytical gaze over the worn couches and the cathode-ray TV, and the dining table set for two. At least he isn't too out-of-place in his button-down shirt and jeans, and she doesn't feel bad wearing her old blouse and fitted khaki pants.

"What's for dinner?" he asks, sniffing at the savory scent of hot food from the kitchen.

Tenten narrows her eyes. "I made chicken."

"I prefer fish," he mentions, almost casually, and considers her with his pale gaze.

"Well, you insisted on dinner," she tells him flatly. "I decide what you're getting to eat."

Somehow, Tenten feels as if those eyes see more than they should; Hyuuga Neji doesn't blink as often as she does, and it is a little unnerving when he subjects her to one of his stares.

She doesn't know what to do (Lee is a speed-dial away, but she isn't about to call him for every little weird thing her guest does). Tenten settles on pointing him towards the dining table. "Sit," she says. "Dinner will be ready in five minutes."

He shrugs lightly, his eyes raking over her form. "Sure."

She pointedly ignores him, and slips into the kitchen to put a wall between them. It's the first time she'll be spending more than five minutes talking to him, too, and Tenten feels out-of-sorts, like she needs to be chewing his head off or flinging insults at him to maintain her illusion of control.

Hyuuga Neji is very attractive, after all.

Especially in that shirt and those jeans.

Tenten scoops fluffy, steaming rice onto the two plates she's laid out, dishes the chicken (cooked Chinese-style, in soy sauce and ginger) onto the bed of rice, and finishes the dish off with blanched spinach placed on the remaining third of the plate, to balance the rice and chicken aesthetically.

Contrary to what most people think, Tenten can actually make decent, simple meals, when she isn't trying to get someone else to do the cooking instead.

Her guest is seated placidly at the dining table when she emerges from the kitchen with the plates. His hands are placed on the table where his plate should be, and Tenten sets the plate down harder than necessary on his fingers.

Hyuuga Neji frowns, pulls his hands away. "That's not how you should treat your guest," he protests mildly.

"You're not welcome here," she mutters, looking mutinously at him.

"I'd rather not be here," he agrees, sending a pointed look at the outdated living area.

Tenten rolls her eyes. "Well, eat your dinner and go home, then," she tells him.

"It was your fault that I fell, if you remember," he returns evenly, picking up a spoon to sample the meal. "Do you happen to have drinks?"

"This isn't a restaurant," she mutters. It's a good call, though - she hasn't had enough hands to bring any beverages out. For herself, that is.

"I prefer green tea," he supplies, looking expectantly at her.

Tenten looks towards the ceiling and wonders if Lee is having a better time at Mr Gai's. Probably.

The only green tea present in the house is in teabags; she dispenses some hot water from a thermos and presses a sachet into the steaming liquid. For herself, she pulls a can of beer from the fridge - a luxury, but she's going to need it if she's facing Hyuuga Neji for the better part of an hour.

He raises an eyebrow at her when he catches sight of her beer can. "Is my presence not enough for you to get drunk on?"

"Hell no," Tenten bristles. She shoves the mug into his outstretched hand a little too roughly, and green tea spills over his fingers, dripping onto the table.

Hyuuga Neji mutters a curse she's surprised to hear coming from his pretty lips, and sets the mug heavily on the table, wiping his scalded digits on his jeans. "You didn't have to do that."

"There was no agreement on how you should be treated during this dinner you forced on me," Tenten tells him, grimly satisfied. She pops the seal on her can, gulps a mouthful of beer and feels it tingle down to her stomach.

It makes her feel a little more reckless than she should be.

There is a bout of silence when she sets her beverage down, settles in her seat, and begins to tuck into her food, pointedly ignoring the presence of the man across from her. The basmati rice, steamed with a pad of butter, is rich and flavorful, and Tenten eats that by itself, first, to enjoy its nutty taste.

"Are you sure this is edible?"

She cracks her eyes open (after closing them to better taste her food) and surveys him with a scowl. "What?" she says, still chewing.

He looks at her in disdain, and prods at his chicken with a fork. "This. Have you ensured that you've cooked it to a temperature of at least 165 Fahrenheit? I wouldn't want to risk contracting salmonella."

Tenten makes sure to swallow all the food in her mouth before rolling her eyes hard. Again. "I'm eating it," she tells him, and bites into the chicken thigh pointedly, tearing a piece of meat off with her teeth. She turns the rest of the chicken towards him. "Look, no blood."

Hyuuga Neji looks warily at her, and slices his own food into neat slabs, before popping one into his mouth. He speaks only after he swallows. "It's passable."

She tries her best not to send her eyes rolling yet again. They're going to fall out of her face before the night ends. "It's my best dish," she informs him. "And you can suck it if you don't like it."

He falls silent for a bit, looking back at the other other parts of the house to entertain himself. Tenten shrugs and consumes more beer. Suits her just fine if he doesn't talk.

"You're not wearing your hair up today," he says after a while, and she looks up at him in surprise. It's not as if she puts them up in the twin buns, or a ponytail, all the time - but maybe that's all he's seen of her, when she isn't behind closed doors.

Tenten shrugs again, gathers her hair in her hands and sweeps it off her neck, draping it over a shoulder. "I do this all the time."

He remains silent after that, and she finds herself looking at his hair, wondering why he keeps it so long, and how it looks so smooth and silky and it makes her curious what it feels like-

"My hair hasn't won any awards, in case you were wondering," Hyuuga Neji comments dryly.

"I bet you spend forever caring for it," she mutters maybe-enviously.

"You look as if you'd dearly like to run your fingers through it," he replies, and Tenten jerks her gaze back to her plate, cramming the last of her food into her mouth.

Nope. Not interested in that hair. Or those eyes. Or that body.

"What do you do for a living?" is his next question.

"So you can hunt me down?" she asks suspiciously, when there's space available in her mouth, and no more food left on her plate to fill it with. "Or find some other way to sue me?"

He raises his eyebrows at her. "I'm getting to know you better."

"Why?" she asks, the unease in her stomach increasing. She swigs a mouthful of beer.

"I thought we should get to know each other better as neighbors," he answers.

Tenten tries not to spit her beer out, and settles for looking dubiously at him. "What about Lee? You didn't want to meet him at all."

A slight grimace flickers onto his face. "He is... overly enthusiastic."

That much, Tenten can understand. She shrugs. "Well, he's not a bad guy."

Neji doesn't look convinced. "So, your occupation?"

"Weapons design. Military." Tenten glances at the swords on the wall, ancient Japanese _katana_ and a _naginata_ leaning in one corner of the living area. Traditional weapons are still her favorites, despite how powerful firearms have become in modern times.

He nods, but doesn't say anything else, instead following her gaze to the oriental relics.

The silence almost feels companionable now, but Tenten doesn't want to read too much into it. Both their plates are empty (so much for the food being passable), and she stands to clear the table.

"Will there be dessert?" he asks, and she looks at him in surprise. That wasn't part of the plan, though there are tubs of ice cream in the freezer that are absolutely not for him. He must've mistaken her surprise for something else, because he's quick to amend, "I was referring to food."

He thought she misunderstood that as an indecent proposal?

Tenten gapes at him, her cheeks burning. "I- I can't even believe you thought that of me," she sputters, and gathers the empty plates, beating a hasty retreat into the kitchen.

(But would dessert - _that_ sort of dessert - really be all that regrettable?)

She dumps the dishes into the sink with a noisy clatter and runs water over them, before returning to the dining area.

"Maybe I should handle dessert the next time," Neji says. (Sometime over the course of dinner, she's started to think of him as just Neji, instead of the unapproachable, entirely-too-smug Hyuuga Neji that she's loved to hate.) He's already on his feet, hands in his pockets, and the cup of green tea is drained.

"Next time?" Tenten echos blankly.

"I can cook too, if you didn't know," he answers, raising an eyebrow at her.

She blinks at him. "Are you saying you want to cook here?"

Neji watches her in amusement. "No. I meant that we can have dinner over at my place instead."

She stares. Blinks more. "Do I have to threaten to sue you first?"

He cracks a smile, and Tenten feels a little piece of her resistance melt at that. (And that probably should not have happened.) "If you must," he replies, humor flashing across his pale eyes.

She walks him to the door, almost feeling a pang of something when he steps onto the porch, the incandescent lamps from within the house casting vague shadows on his face.

"Thanks for dinner," he says quietly, and Tenten is taken aback by the sheer absence of any of that smugness she's seen on him before today.

"Um," she fumbles. There isn't a lot of space between them, and she is suddenly rather unwilling to see him go.

"Good night, Tenten," Neji continues, stepping a little closer to her. She feels her pulse beat out of control, feels the warmth of his body through the space between them.

He kisses her on the lips, and she doesn't know what to think.

* * *

_A/N: This is part 1 out of 3. Characters very reminiscent of those in Blackmail. ;) I don't know how that happened - they just slipped out as I wrote them. ;)_

_Also, am working on a Shira/Sen/Yome oneshot thing with hints of NejiTen - inspired by the latest filler arc, if you guys haven't seen it yet. Would totally love to see more Team Gai/Team Shira bonding. ;)_


	2. Part 2

_Wow - you guys are really liking this fic! :O This part is a little on the heavy side. ;)_

_Naruto and its characters do not belong to me. _

* * *

**The Cheap Way Out in Life**

**Part 2**

**v.**

The air is a little different on their second dinner date.

Tenten doesn't know what to wear, or what to bring for dessert, so she settles for plain black tights and a large printed T-shirt, and rings the doorbell.

After all, her place is just across the street - she could always go back and change into something else if he finds this offensive, right?

Neji answers the door soon enough; she smiles awkwardly at him, and he steps back, to allow her to enter.

The interior of Hyuuga Neji's home, although located in her run-down neighborhood, is nothing like what its plain exterior leads one to think. The living area floors are hardwood, there's a stone fireplace, and plush couches around a cherrywood coffee table. A quick glance into his kitchen reveals a polished stone counter and marbled floors, and elegant wood-toned cabinets.

"Wow," she breathes, on the threshold of his home and staring at everything.

"The flies are going to get in if you remain standing there for too long," he tells her, and she jerks out of her trance, moving to a side to allow him to shut the door.

"Aren't you... busy with work?" she asks, remembering that he works as an accountant, and is probably awake most nights crunching numbers.

He gives a half-shrug, pale eyes sliding off her to look in the direction of the kitchen. "I cleared some space in my schedule. Have a seat."

"Okay." Tenten sits gingerly on one of the black leather couches, but not before handing him a plastic carrier. "I brought ice cream."

"I'm not actually a fan of sweet things," Neji answers, and she winces.

"Well, they're green tea popsicles. I figured you might like those," Tenten says, motioning towards the bag.

Neji blinks in surprise, and looks at the box within. His eyebrows lift. "I'll give it a try," he concedes. She smiles.

He returns from the kitchen with a steaming mug and a can of beer - the same brand she has at home - and Tenten stares at him, dumbfounded.

"Did you buy that just for tonight?" she blurts, accepting the ice-cold can with a low word of thanks. "I can't imagine you drinking."

He shrugs, and takes a seat on the adjacent couch, sipping from his mug of green tea. "I drink sometimes, though I prefer wine."

Tenten allows her shoulders to sag, relieved that he didn't just go out of his way to get what he thought she enjoys.

"That's not my preferred brand," he adds offhandedly. "A little too sweet for my tastes."

"Oh." _Oops._ So he did go out of his way for the beer. She stares at the can and gulps, awkwardly pulling the tab. The beer fizzles into her mouth and down her throat, tasting of malt and hops and barley. She licks her lips after that mouthful, setting the can down on a coaster, before looking back at him. "My favorite is actually the Suna Lager... but that costs a ton."

He dips his chin. "Noted."

"Why are you treating me so well?" she says, unable to rid the question that's been lingering on her mind ever since _that night_. It doesn't make sense that he's been all smug and damn annoying and he's suddenly kissing her and asking to meet for a second dinner and stuff. "Did you hit your head when you slipped on the marbles?"

Neji's lips quirk in a smile. "Maybe I did."

"That's not answering the question," she retorts, narrowing her eyes at him.

"It's too early for this, isn't it?" he asks, sipping his green tea again, before placing his mug on the table.

Tenten glances towards the kitchen. "You asked me to be here at six instead of seven - do you have to finish dinner early or something?"

Neji shakes his head lightly. "No."

"What's for dinner?" she queries next, confused.

"Herring soba. But that's already prepared," Neji tells her quietly.

Her mouth goes dry when he moves to her couch instead, settling just inches away from her. Tenten doesn't miss the hard lines of his arms, the way his pale eyes are fixed on her, and how she kind of wishes she knew what's beneath his shirt and trousers.

"About the other night," Neji whispers.

She stares when he licks his lips. His Adam's apple bobs when he swallows, and Tenten stops thinking when he leans over her, slanting his mouth over hers.

His lips are soft and his tongue silky, when he slips into her mouth, tangling with her. Neji is warm and tastes like tea. Vaguely, she feels his hand drag over her thigh, past the swell of her hip, and an answering flare of heat wells in her middle. It feels absolutely natural for her to lean into his touch, for him to slip his hand under her shirt. He eases her lips open wider; she's drunk on the slickness of his flesh and reaches for him, closing her fist in the fabric of his shirt.

Neji presses her back into the couch; Tenten doesn't know when exactly it changes from very intense kissing, to very intense touching. He trails his fingers down her midriff, past her abdomen, between her legs, where she burns for him, and she raises her hips to meet his touch, hungry for more.

They forget about dinner for a long time after that.

.

It is only when they're well into an awkward dinner that Neji asks, "Who is Lee?"

Tenten blinks at him in surprise. It's occurred to her that Neji is being very bold for not knowing what her relationship with Lee is, but it's not like she's done anything to dampen his interest. She's accepted his dinner request after that kiss, and now...

That Lee is her legal husband is not a point relevant to this discussion - she and Lee are in it for the monetary benefits, after all. "Lee is..." She pauses, and shrugs. "He's my best friend."

"Are you involved with him?" is Neji's next question. She looks up from her bowl of half-finished herring soba - he almost seems to be too close, over the mahogany dining table - and swallows at the intensity with which he's looking at her.

Almost as if he's ready to consume her if she answered in the negative.

"No, I'm not," she informs him, and ducks her head to finish the rest of the noodles. The broth he's made is rich and flavorful - savory with hints of ginger and seaweed - and the soba is light, chewy. Even the slices of fish are delicate - sweet and tender - and Tenten wishes he'd let her enjoy the dinner without excessive talk on where they're headed.

Because she's positive that this isn't the last she'd see of him, and it is most certainly not the only time she'll sleep with him.

"The noodles are good," she says instead, and picks the bowl up to finish the last of her soup.

"There's dessert, too," Neji answers. She doesn't know what he means by that - she's looking at the gleaming white of her ceramic bowl and trying to quell the gush of anticipation in her stomach.

"I'll do the dishes," Tenten volunteers, to distance herself from his presence for a while.

She stands abruptly, extends a hand for his bowl - he hands it to her - and makes her way to the elegant kitchen. Washing dishes is simple enough, and distracting enough for her to almost forget the new dampness on her panties.

_Is this too sudden?_ she asks herself. It's worth every bit of pause, though, because Neji's touch is exquisite, and his presence is comfortable (without all that smugness and arrogance, surprisingly), and he makes her think of heated, lurid moments with his tongue-

Tenten feels him standing behind her just heartbeats before he touches her waist, and she stills, warm water filling the bowl in her hands.

"I was thinking about dessert," Neji says quietly behind her, and steps closer, so she can feel the heat of his body through their clothes.

She stares unseeingly at the closed blinds in front of her, so focused on the way his hand slips beneath her too-large shirt, and smooths up her stomach, to her bra. A gasp slips from her lips - it doesn't take a genius to figure where this is going, not when Neji leans in close and drags his lip along the shell of her ear.

He reaches around her with his other hand and shuts off the water, takes the bowl from her hands and sets it aside. And she can't think, not when he cups the side of her bottom, the heat of his palm searing through her thin tights, and his fingers steal downward, to her center, and _oh god_, is she wet-

Neji exhales quickly next to her ear, grinding the patch of damp cloth into her slick flesh, and it's all she can do to grab the cool edges of the sink and push her hips towards him, to make him stop with this torture.

"Dessert?" he murmurs in her ear, increasing that tempting pressure.

There's no doubt as to which variety he's referring to.

"Yes, please," Tenten groans, needing more of this, without all the cumbersome clothes getting in their way.

"Louder," he whispers, and she shudders, crying out when he nudges her swollen flesh.

"Neji!" she moans, gasping for breath. "Please!"

He smirks against the crook of her neck and bends her over, fitting the telling hardness at his groin against her flesh.

The awkwardness between them melts, again, and Tenten vaguely wonders if this will be all there is to Neji-and-Tenten.

* * *

**vi.**

Lee doesn't question the increasing frequency with which Tenten visits Hyuuga Neji's home. Sometimes she stays the night, and sometimes she returns just after half an hour or so.

It's obvious that there's something going on between them. She's revealed that he's kissed her, though Lee knows that there's more taking place than that; Tenten brushes off the bruises on her neck as souvenirs of unfortunate falls, and Lee doesn't press her for a more honest answer. Unlike Ino, who has a penchant for juicy details, Tenten's sex life is none of his concern, unless Neji is actually hurting her in some way or other.

But he sees the change in her disposition, how she's becoming more cheerful these days, and although he's happy about this progress, it doesn't alter the fact that he and Tenten are still legally married. Tenten hasn't broached the topic of divorce anytime soon, either.

"Tenten," Lee says one day, during dinner, when they're both home and she isn't in a hurry to make her way across the street. "How are you and Neji doing?"

She looks up from her stir-fried noodles, blinking at him. "Why the sudden question?"

He sets aside thoughts of his food, and fixes her with a hard stare. "Neji knows that you're married, right?"

Surprise flickers across her face, followed almost immediately by guilt. "Well, no," she says slowly. "I figured that things wouldn't go far enough for that to be a concern."

"Are they? Going that far, I mean," Lee clarifies, looking at her worriedly. Neji has not visited the rental place ever since his first dinner here, and Lee doesn't fault him for it - the Hyuuga are known for being wealthier and more arrogant than the average person, after all.

A fetching blush rises on Tenten's cheeks. "I, um, no, we aren't. It's casual, Lee - I've told you that."

"And Neji knows that you don't intend to take this further?" he presses.

"With how he-" Tenten pauses abruptly, and flushes a deep crimson. "Um. Yes. He knows. We're just sort-of friends."

Lee continues to scrutinize her for a while longer - Tenten looks indignantly at him, red-faced - and he finally breaks into a smile. "I'm happy for you," he tells her.

She looks genuinely confused. "Why?"

"Because you're happy with him," Lee explains, and remembers the times she's looked off into the distance, as if in an elated daze. "I was right about you and Neji having chemistry together."

"More like some sort of biology," Tenten mutters, though Lee isn't sure if she meant him to hear that.

"Just remember that you have my support in everything you do," he tells her all the same, with a bright grin and a thumbs-up. "I'm perfectly willing to call off this arrangement between us if you feel that it's necessary."

She smiles at him, hazel eyes sparkling. "Thanks, Lee."

He just hopes, for her sake, that their marriage won't come to ruin things between her and their neighbor across the street.

* * *

**vii.**

It is three months after their first dinner, and the sunflowers are blooming, doing far better than Tenten originally thought they would. She hasn't grown anything before the sunflowers, though the success has been nudging her thoughts towards planting more seeds, to see how they'd do.

Conveniently, a packet of dill seeds showed up in the mailbox earlier this week, and Tenten finds herself conditioning yet another patch of ground in her front yard, with hopes of planting the dill as soon as she's done.

Lee's in the kitchen making breakfast; there is almost a sense of déjà vu when Neji comes jogging down the sidewalk, though he slows to a stop next to her, surveying her handiwork in the weak morning sunlight.

"The sunflowers are doing well," he remarks, stepping back to appraise the tall, blooming plants. She notes that he's dressed in his usual exercise gear, and that sweat gleams on his face and neck and arms. If he's looked attractive before, Hyuuga Neji looks especially virile now.

Tenten shrugs, and turns away from him to hide a smile. "I read that plants don't like to be bothered too often."

"A good approach to have," he agrees, and she looks back at him, grinning.

"You thought that at first - see what you've become!" she teases, and lowers her volume. "You're turning soft, Neji - you like being bothered."

Faint amusement flickers across his eyes; he crouches down next to her, giving her an almost-cocky smile. "Really."

Heat radiates from him through his clothes, and she leans closer to him by habit, eager for skin contact. The scent of his sweat is musky and appealing and oh-so-familiar.

"You do when I show up." Tenten grins, brushing dirt off her hands. "And you especially like when I touch-"

He silences her with a light kiss. "That isn't information to be shared with the public, Tenten," he chides lowly.

She remembers Lee in the kitchen then, and flushes, glancing at the open window. "Oops."

Hopefully, her best friend did not hear that.

"What are your plans for tonight?" Neji asks, glancing over her form.

Tenten swallows, her throat suddenly dry. "You keep doing that to me," she complains.

He raises an eyebrow. "What do I keep doing?"

"Looking at me." Tenten shivers, and whispers, "Like you're about to eat me."

"You like it," he retorts just as quietly, and leans in, so his lips are just next to her ear. "Especially between your legs."

"Neji!" Tenten hisses, her cheeks scorching.

He smirks and draws away. "Seven tonight?"

"Sure," she grouses, glowering at him as he gets to his feet.

"Enjoy the dill," Neji says over his shoulder, and Tenten has a moment to blink, before she realizes that the seed packet is face-down, on her other side, so he can't possibly have known that it was dill-

"It was you," she realizes, just as he's about to step onto the road.

Neji turns around, looking expectantly at her. Tenten tries not to stare too much at the profile of his face, and how his lips look so inviting in the morning sunlight. "Me?"

"You left the seeds," she tells him accusingly, disbelieving.

A tiny smile quirks his lips. "And?"

"You planned this all," Tenten continues, blinking stupidly at him.

Neji shrugs. "It was a gamble."

"Why even do it?" she asks. "When I'm only discovering it now?"

That annoying little smile is back, and Neji steps onto the road. "I wanted to see what you did with the seeds."

Like the night of that kiss so many weeks ago, Tenten stares after Neji, and doesn't know what to think.

* * *

**viii.**

Winter is waning, the sunflowers are long gone, and Tenten is pushing a huge shopping cart along the aisles of a large store with Neji at her side.

"Let it be known that this is domestic and I have no intention of getting into habits like this with you," she announces, even as she makes a beeline for the red-themed boxes upon boxes of products.

"Should I be offended that you don't want to go shopping with me when it's five minutes past midnight?" Neji questions mildly, trailing a few steps behind her. "Or should I be offended, instead, that our date is taking place in a cheap, employee-unfriendly hypermarket full of patrons who possess shopping cart rage and don't know how to dress themselves?"

Tenten snorts. "I'm just glad that you aren't spending stupid amounts of money on an overpriced Valentine's Day gift."

Neji slants a look at her. "You didn't even want a glimpse of my face earlier today."

"I was saving it for after midnight," she retorts, pausing when they arrive at the holiday candy aisles - the products there are on a fifty-percent discount, courtesy of the date and time.

"And the first thing you look at after midnight is discount candy," Neji observes dryly.

Tenten narrows her eyes, rounds on him, and plants a rough kiss on his lips. "There. Now let me do my shopping in peace."

"I'm paying for it, you know," he continues, following with his hands in his pockets.

She ignores him resolutely and piles bags upon bags of candy in her cart.

"Consuming too much at once may lead to weight gain," he says casually, and Tenten throws him an acid glower.

"Shut up if you know what's good for you," she bristles.

Neji merely looks smugly at her. "You're especially attractive when riled."

Tenten rolls her eyes, and steers her cart away from the other scavenging shoppers, who know (like she does) that the best pickings of the season are right about now.

They do not speak for some time while the cart trundles along, and Tenten scans all the shelves in case she's missed out on a good deal. She piles a few bags of cookie mix in the cart, and a green frog for Lee, like she always gets him every day-after-Valentine's-Day.

"A frog?" Neji questions, looking at the furry, stuffed amphibian.

"I'm paying for that. It's for Lee," Tenten explains, missing the fleeting dark look in his eyes.

"He gets something and I don't?" Neji asks quietly, and this time, she doesn't miss the jealousy on his countenance.

She frowns at him. "This isn't a Valentine's Day gift, if you must know. It's a tradition that's been going on ever since Lee and I were in middle school. We only do gift exchanges with discount things-"

"He's more important to you," Neji blurts, glancing between her and the frog.

"I'm just doing what I always do," Tenten snaps. "I don't want to miss out on a deal because I had to come back later after I spent time with you. The frog could be gone by then."

"So?" Neji says, folding his arms. "Is it that important? Am I not just as worthy of your attention?"

"This is just one minute compared to the rest of the night I'm spending with you," Tenten argues, tossing the frog into the cart. "You have issues if you can't let me do just this little thing for my best friend-"

"What am I to you, then?" Neji challenges, his eyes narrowing.

She sighs, and pushes her cart along to the hardware section of the store, where there aren't people watching them argue over a stupid discount toy. "What are we supposed to be, Neji?"

"You tell me," he mutters, frowning at her.

"I thought we were just... casual dates. Or something," Tenten mumbles, gripping the handle of the cart. There is too much pink wrapping in there, around her candy, and the sight of it is just wrong when Neji is frowning at her like she ought to have known better.

"Through all this time?" he asks, quietly, pale eyes boring into the side of her head. "It's been almost a year."

"What did you think we were?" she returns, swallowing hard. This is going a little too far out of control, and Tenten wishes she were alone and without difficult questions like what Neji is plying her with.

Neji catches her hand, lifts it, and reaches into his back pocket.

The silver glimmer catches her eye even before she thinks to react; Neji drops the ring into her palm, glancing at her face.

"I've been intending to give that to you," he says. It's a ring that's quite possibly a perfect fit for her ring finger, adorned with a single, sparkling aquamarine - her birthstone.

Tenten finds that she can't breathe.

Neji's forehead furrows, and he takes the ring back from her hand, shoving it back into his pocket.

"I- I'm married to Lee, you know," Tenten whispers, and the words are out of her mouth before she can think to take them back.

Lilac eyes widen, and narrow, and the fury on Neji's face is beautiful and frightening all at once.

"You're married?" he breathes, releasing her hand abruptly, as if burnt.

Tenten gulps. "Not like that- Neji!"

He's backing away, betrayal written all through his eyes, and Tenten takes a step towards him, wanting to say something, anything.

Even in anger, Hyuuga Neji is exquisite. His dark eyebrows are drawn together and his eyes are blazing. Tenten knows the feel of those cheekbones and those lips and suddenly it occurs to her that she's on the precipice of losing all of it.

All of _them_.

Neji turns to leave; she reaches out and grasps his arm to stop him.

He pauses, giving her a chance to explain herself.

"It was a marriage of convenience," Tenten pleads, hoping that he'd listen. "It's not what you think it is-"

"It doesn't change the fact that you lied to me," he mutters, his tone hard.

Something in her gut twists.

Tenten falters, releases his arm, and he's striding away, through the stocked aisle and turning so she loses sight of him within moments. How did things go wrong so quickly?

It is only when it sinks in that Neji has gone that she realizes how wrong this is - that she never saw him as being perfectly willing to walk out of her life, that she has been taking him for granted until now.

She looks around, at the car-cleaning kits and flashlights and aerosol cans, and allows herself to crumble, hugging the green frog to herself.

.

Much later, when she's recovered and resigned herself to losing Neji and walking home under the cloak of night, Tenten pushes her cart through the sliding doors of the store, looking around for the exit closest to home.

She recognizes the silver car by the front entrance and her gut constricts.

It isn't too late to pretend that she hasn't seen it, though, so she pushes the cart in the opposite direction along the road - maybe she should just wheel the cart of candy back home - it would be a lot easier than carrying plastic bags-

The silver car starts up, and reverses to match her pace.

Tenten keeps walking.

The passenger side window rolls down. "Get in," Neji tells her.

She almost pauses - almost - but keeps walking.

"I'm not repeating myself," he continues, with a touch of impatience.

"Why are you even doing this?" she snaps, glowering into the shadowy depths of the car.

"I won't have your _husband_ holding me responsible for not seeing you home safe," he grits, the words sour between them, and Tenten feels her heart cracking in that moment.

She knows that Neji won't leave until she gets in the car. It's an almost endearing trait - were she in any other situation.

With a grimace, Tenten gathers her plastic bags and pulls the passenger-side door open, gracelessly dropping into the seat. The bags rustle and Neji drives her home in silence, and Tenten doesn't know if she's felt any more miserable in her life.

* * *

_A/N: Did you see that coming? ;)_

_Thank you so much for all your reviews! They make my day :) This was supposed to be a one-shot, but it got out of hand. ;)_


	3. Part 3

_Oh wow, you guys are really enjoying this fic. ;) Sorry about previous chapter. Neji staying behind to wait for Tenten is essentially what the husband would've done if we got into an argument. :P And... if you guys didn't notice it before, this Neji is a toned-down version of Blackmail!Neji. ;)_

_Naruto and its characters do not belong to me._

* * *

**The Cheap Way Out in Life**

**Part 3**

**ix.**

Tenten barely makes it through the door, before dropping her bags of discount candy (that she no longer has a taste for) on the floor and trudging into Lee's room.

She doesn't knock, and it is a few weak shakes of his shoulder before Lee wakes up, fumbling blearily for the light switch.

"Tenten?" he mumbles, squinting at her when the orange glow floods the room.

Her face must look awful, because he's wide awake the next moment, sitting up on the mattress and staring at her in concern.

"What happened?" he asks, and Tenten looks at the green tortoise print of his bed sheets miserably. "I thought you were with Neji- Oh."

"I guess it was a bad idea to begin with," she mutters, feeling as if all the muscles on her face are frozen.

"What did he do?" Lee presses, inky eyes filled with worry.

Tenten winces. The memories hurt to wade in, and she hesitates. "He proposed."

She did not see that coming - didn't think he saw them as more than casual dates, especially when she insisted that they didn't spend Valentine's Day together (they aren't that serious, right?), and he agreed. There hasn't even been any sign in his recent actions that indicated any desire to marry her. Or did she miss them?

"And?" Lee questions with bated breath, eyes so wide that she thinks they might fall out.

"I screwed up big time." Tenten sighs heavily, and leans towards Lee, resting her forehead on his shoulder. "I told him we're married."

"What?" Lee yelps, grabbing her shoulders and holding her at arm's length to study her better. "Right after he proposed? What did he say?"

She flinches. "He was mad. I... don't blame him. We probably shouldn't have let things go that far."

Lee stares at her in bewilderment. "But you guys get along well, don't you?"

"Yeah, I guess we do." Tenten remembers the fury in Neji's eyes, and how he walked away, and her voice cracks. "I didn't think he'd see me that way."

"But you're a wonderful person! I see why Neji would want to propose to you!" Lee exclaims, glancing out of his window as if he expects Neji to be listening in on them.

She exhales hollowly. "I'm not a great person, Lee. I'm cheap and he's all things expensive and no one's been interested in me since forever, anyway."

Lee narrows his eyes at her. "You don't let them get close to you, Tenten. That's what it is."

Tenten shrugs. "I guess Neji was convenient. Across-the-street kind of convenient."

Lee doesn't believe a word of it. "Neji's different," he says firmly. "Even if he wasn't nice to you at first."

Another wince. She doesn't know if she's even going to see him again, and the thought tears into her gut. "This wasn't supposed to happen," Tenten wails, scrunching her face up. "It hurts, Lee."

He grimaces along with her and pulls her into a hug. She leans her weight against him. "If we weren't married, would you have agreed to his proposal?"

Tenten doesn't answer for a long time, and she runs that scenario through her mind warily, wondering what it would be like if she'd say yes.

She's surprised to find that she doesn't mind sharing her life with Neji, after all, and the truth cuts deeper yet.

"I would," she answers in a small voice.

"Are you going to pursue him then?" Lee asks, shifting to look at her.

Tenten cringes. "After all this?" She shakes her head into his shoulder. "I don't know if he'd forgive me."

"Aren't you going to try?" Lee's a little affronted now, and he grips her arms, holding her away from himself to stare in her eyes. "You can't just give up on what you have, Tenten."

She looks down at his green pyjama shirt, shrugging uncertainly. "He's better off without me, anyway."

Lee all but glowers at her. "I'm going to call the lawyer we picked," he says.

Her gaze snaps back towards him, and her eyes widen. "You wouldn't-"

"We have an agreement, Tenten," he tells her resolutely. "We call this off if either of us is proposed to, or proposes."

She winces. Neji might not even want anything to do with her after this. "But Neji-"

"I'll talk to him," Lee says.

"You wouldn't!" Tenten blurts, horrified, and embarrassed beyond belief. "That's just going to make things worse."

"We won't know until we try," Lee answers, frowning at her.

"No. Promise me," Tenten tells him, wincing. "We don't need to make things worse than they already are."

He looks dubiously at her. "Can they get any worse?"

"Probably," she replies, defeated. "He really should look for someone better, anyway."

Lee frowns, but extends his little finger towards her anyway, and she hooks her pinky with his.

* * *

**x.**

Lee is doing push-ups in the front yard when Neji opens his garage door the next morning. Neji freezes at the sight of him, taken aback.

At the squealing of the door panels, Lee pauses, looking up.

Their eyes meet. Neji finds that he doesn't have anything to say to the exercise freak (Tenten's goddamn _husband_), so he keeps silent.

The look in Lee's eyes tells Neji that he _knows_. It occurs to Neji that Lee can't have missed Tenten visiting him, with how much time she's been spending in his place, regardless of the time of day.

"Neji!" Lee exclaims, springing to his feet. "Tenten told me about last night."

Neji is instantly wary. Shouldn't Lee be showing some modicum of anger?

"She doesn't know I'm here," Lee whispers behind his hand when he's close enough, looking surreptitiously back at his rental house. "She's really upset."

Neji narrows his eyes. Anger raises its head in his gut, like a cornered animal ready to pounce. "_She_'s upset?"

Lee nods emphatically, thick black hair bouncing. "Yeah. I'm sorry we never told you the circumstances of our marriage-"

Neji turns away, his stomach roiling. He doesn't want to hear anything about Lee or Tenten. "I don't need to know more."

"Yes, you do!" Lee plants his palm on the garage door frame, inky eyes resolute. "She loves you, Neji-"

"She's married to you," Neji snaps, turning to get into his car. He hasn't been able to sleep last night, and the thought of thick stacks of papers on his desk doesn't make his mood any better. "Kindly move out of my way so I can go to work."

"This is more important than work!" Lee is in front of him quicker than he can blink, planting sweaty palms on his car windows.

Neji grimaces. He'd have to clean those windows again. And hopefully Lee hasn't got any grains of sand on his hands.

"I've contacted our lawyer and the divorce papers are ready," Lee says in a rush.

Neji stares at him. "What?"

"Like I said, ours is a marriage of convenience," Lee tells him in a lowered tone, looking carefully around to ensure that no one is listening in. "The reason why Tenten never told you-"

"I don't want to hear it," Neji interrupts flatly. "She lied to me."

Lee frowns deeply at him then, suddenly cautious. "Are you that willing to cast her aside?" he asks suspiciously.

Neji doesn't answer straight away. "What does that have to do with you?"

"Tenten is my best friend," Lee informs him. "I'm not giving her up to you if you're going to ditch her like you did."

Neji blinks, taken aback. Did he cast her aside? Shouldn't he be the one angry, because Tenten lied to him?

"She told me you were going to propose to her," Lee says fiercely. "My agreement with her is that we end the marriage when that happens to either one of us.

"But I don't know about letting her go to someone who would give up on her so easily!" Lee finishes, glaring at Neji. "Aren't you going to fight for her?"

Neji clenches his jaw and allows himself to think about Tenten, the woman who intrigues him and whom he feels safe with, the woman he's seen himself spending the rest of his life with, and whom he's wanted to care for for a long time to come.

He didn't care about her relationship with Lee when he first made a move on her - so why is he caring about it now? Has he become that self-absorbed? Insecure? He doesn't know.

Neji frowns, and forces himself to think about living without Tenten.

It hurts, and he doesn't want to.

He's felt that tug of attraction towards her since the day he moved in, how she pushed her lower lip out in challenge when he sent her that first cool, appraising stare. Her attitude has never ceased to captivate him from then on, and Neji knows that he hasn't got enough of her, even when she began to warm up to him, and even after he's woken up in bed with her on several occasions.

"I'll talk to her," he tells Lee finally.

Lee nods, studies him quietly, and Neji knows that they're on equal ground - Lee is giving him the one chance to make up with Tenten, despite all the derogatory remarks Neji's flung his way since Lee first tried befriending him.

He only hopes that there's something left of them to be salvaged.

* * *

**xi.**

There's a quiet knock on her door, and Tenten ignores it. Lee should've known to leave her alone by now.

The knocking continues, and Tenten pulls her covers over her head.

"Go away, Lee," she says, not caring that her voice comes out muffled.

It's stupid that she's even staying in bed today. She should be going to work and putting Neji behind her (though it's not as if she's able to). But taking a day off, in which she's free to wallow and lie around in bed, is honestly not as bad as it sounds. Lee left bags of chocolate on her bedside table when she promised that she'd brush her teeth after eating them, and the chocolates have been helping. Not by much, but still.

Lee knocks again, and Tenten settles for playing dead. Maybe she'll wake up if he's made breakfast or something.

The door squeaks open and shut without her allowing it; Tenten frowns to herself. But there isn't the loud babble of Lee talking - only the indent of her mattress next to her hip.

The plastic bag of candy crinkles. Is Lee trying to steal her chocolates?

With a pout, Tenten flings the covers off from her head, ready to yell at Lee-

Only for the words shrivel on her tongue when Neji looks back at her, one hand in her bag of milk chocolate kisses.

She stares at him. Her eyes bounce between his face and the hand in her bag of chocolates, and she blurts, without thinking, "I thought you didn't like sweet things."

Neji blinks at her. Thinks for a bit. "I wanted to see why you like them so much."

His answer throws her off, and she blinks back at him, before thinking to put some distance between them. Tenten's back presses into the wall behind her, and she wishes she could retreat further. "Why are you here?" she asks warily. "How did you even get in?"

"There was a key buried in the third flowerpot on the right," Neji answers, calmly unwrapping the chocolate kiss he's extricated.

Tenten narrows her eyes. "Lee told you that."

He inclines his head, and pops the drop of chocolate into his mouth, setting the balled-up foil on a corner of her bedside table. Tenten frowns again. Didn't she make Lee promise not to interfere? She's so going to make him pay, damn it! Having Neji in her room is the last thing she wants right now.

"I don't suppose you came all the way here to consume my chocolates in front of me," Tenten continues, eyes widening when he reaches into the bag again. "Hey!"

"It's better than I expected," he answers, drawing his second kiss out. The glance he sends her is surprisingly meaningful. "Like those green tea popsicles."

She swallows, remembers that first dinner in his home, which led to the first of a number of things between them, like her sleeping in his bed, and him pressing kisses to her forehead-

"Why are you here, Neji?" Tenten asks, her voice a little smaller than she means it to be.

He sets the second chocolate wrapper down then, and swallows before replying, "I should apologize."

His lilac gaze is intent, and Tenten isn't able to look away from him.

"But I also want to know why you married Lee," Neji says quietly.

She gulps, and shrugs. "It's a simple concept. To move me into a lower tax bracket through marriage."

Neji stares incredulously at her. "That's all?"

Tenten frowns at him. "It's no laughing matter, okay? If all went well, I could've been saving an additional four grand a year through this marriage, except you started talking to me the day after Lee and I got married, and now this..."

He's silent for long moments. "That's not what marriage is supposed to be about."

She rolls her eyes, remembering Ino's words. "Don't you think I know that? But lots of people marry for other things - to immigrate, to get better deals on loans-"

Neji shakes his head. "I didn't think you skimped to such an extent."

Tenten chuckles mirthlessly. "Don't you know me well enough yet?"

He raises an eyebrow at her. "Hoarding discount chocolates is far different from getting married, Tenten."

She shrugs again. "Well, it's already proven beneficial - I've received my tax returns for last year, and it's a higher amount than if I didn't marry Lee."

"So, what does this mean for us?" Neji asks, slanting a look at her. He reaches over to slip his fingers into hers, and her breath catches in her throat. Her heart beats painfully.

Tenten swallows, looks away. "Is there still an 'us'?" she mutters.

"I'd like for there to be, yes," he murmurs, bringing her hand to his lips. "I'm sorry for walking out on you last night."

She looks back at him in surprise, eyes wide. There is only honesty in his gaze, and Tenten swallows past the lump in her throat.

"I'm sorry too. I guess I should've told you earlier," she tells him thickly, lowering her gaze. "I just didn't... think you'd..."

He brushes his lips over her knuckles. "You didn't think I'd do what?"

"Propose. Or fall in love with me." Tenten turns her face towards her pillow, to hide her heated cheeks. "I didn't think I'd... be so upset when you left."

"Does that mean you'd agree if I were to propose again?" Neji asks.

She looks up at him in surprise, and sees a touch of trepidation in his eyes. Perhaps there is still something between them, despite all that's happened. Tenten smiles, tugs on his hand, to pull him closer.

He ends up lying on the too-narrow bed next to her, arm wrapped loosely around her waist. "Well?" he presses, raising an eyebrow.

It feels like he's tied her heart to a balloon that's now floating somewhere above them.

"I'll have to think about it," she tells him almost cheekily, but she knows that her smile and the brightness in her eyes are answer enough.

His shoulders sag with relief. Neji tugs her closer, and rolls on top of her, slanting his lips over hers. The scent of chocolate lingers on his breath. "You'll have to promise not to hide important things from me again," he tells her.

She draws a deep breath, and releases it. "I promise."

"There really isn't anything between you and Lee?" Neji asks. He's so close to her that his eyes are a blur of pale lilac. Tenten pulls away slightly, to get a better look at him.

"He's my best friend," she tells him solemnly. "That's all there is to it."

"I want to be the closest person to you," he answers, kissing her again.

She smiles. Kisses him back. "You can't possibly expect me to abandon Lee, though."

Neji sighs then. "Yeah. I know."

"Thanks for understanding," Tenten tells him, running her fingers through his hair. Half an hour ago, she wouldn't have thought that Neji would be back in her life. It's strange how things change for the better, isn't it? Her heart swells.

Neji presses his face into her shoulder. "You said you didn't want to do domestic things with me last night."

"I was kidding," Tenten reaches down and swats his butt, and Neji glances up at her, offended. She presses a kiss to his unblemished forehead, smiles at him.

"My uncle will probably get mad if I married you," he whispers suddenly, "But I don't care."

"Your uncle?" she asks, between kisses.

"Strict. Uptight. I moved here to get away from family," Neji explains, trailing his lips down her jaw. "They wouldn't want to be seen in this neighborhood."

"I- I see," she mutters, when he begins licking down her throat. "But if I'm moving in with you, Lee would-"

Neji pulls away from her, frowning lightly. "He said a Mr Gai doesn't mind if he moves in."

Tenten stares at him, the pieces connecting in her mind. Lee told Neji? And he told Gai? The future state of Mr Gai's apartment gives her the shudders. "They're going to be living in so much green," she explains, when Neji sends her a curious look.

"I saw his room," he begins slowly.

"Well." Tenten winces. "Mr Gai's apartment is entirely green. Down to the tables and couches and-"

He shuts her up with another kiss. "I don't need to hear more."

She lets him distract her with his lips, until the subject of marriage floats back into her mind. "We'd have to wait for the divorce to be finalized before we can get married," she points out, trying to hang on to her thoughts while Neji eases beneath the covers to join her.

"You can move in with me in the meantime," he answers, his hands slipping under her pyjama shirt.

Tenten would have rolled her eyes, if it isn't for the way his teeth grazes her shoulder. "Isn't Lee home?" she gasps.

"He's gone to work." He finds her breast, teasing her nipple to hardness.

"Don't- Don't you have to be at work too?" She gulps, and moans when he pushes her shirt up and lowers his lips to her chest.

"Took the day off. No more questions, Tenten." Neji sends her a warning look, and returns to her flesh, pleasuring her with his lips and teeth and tongue.

She shuts up after that - sex is one of the cheapest and best forms of entertainment, after all (Neji would agree with her on this), and life with him isn't something she'd willingly give up on anytime soon.

**END**

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_A/N: I hope this did not disappoint. :P_

_As always, thank you for the reviews!_


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